Travel mode choice: affected by objective or subjective determinants?

This contribution presents theoretical considerations concerning the connections between life situation, lifestyle, choice of residential location and travel behaviour, as well as empirical results of structural equation models. The analyses are based on data resulting from a survey in seven study areas in the region of Cologne. The results indicate that lifestyles influence mode choice, although slightly, even when life situation is controlled for. The influence of life situation on mode choice exceeds the influence of lifestyle. The influence that lifestyle, and in part also life situation, has on mode choice is primarily mediated by specific location attitudes and location decisions that influence mode choice, respectively. Here objective spatial conditions as well as subjective location attitudes are important.

How and why do men and women differ in their willingness to use automated cars? The influence of emotions across different age groups

Current research on willingness to use automated cars indicates differences between men and women, with the latter group showing lower usage intentions. This study aims at providing a first explanation of this effect. Research from other fields suggests that affective reactions might be able to explain behavioral intentions and responses towards technology, and that these affects vary depending on age levels. By examining a sample of 1603 participants representative for Germany (in terms of biological sex, age, and education) we found evidence that affective responses towards automotive cars (i.e., anxiety and pleasure) explain (i.e., mediate) the effect of biological sex on willingness to use them. Moreover, we found that these emotional processes vary as a function of respondent age in such a way that the differential effect of sex on anxiety (but not on pleasure) was more pronounced among relatively young respondents and decreased with participants’ age. Our results suggest that addressing anxiety-related responses towards automated cars (e.g., by providing safety-related information) and accentuating especially the pleasurable effects of automated cars (e.g., via advertising) reduce differences between men and women. Addressing the anxiety-related effects in order to reduce sex differences in usage intentions seems to be less relevant for older target groups, whereas promoting the pleasurable responses is equally important across age groups.     

Light rail routing: do goals matter?

Decisions to fund light rail (LRT) have been critiqued as instrumentally irrational. This paper examines whether the seemingly more technical LRT routing decisions are instrumentally rational. To this end, we test whether routing decisions are made to address goals that are rationally derived from the challenges faced by the urban region. On the basis of a review of the literature, two rationales that underlie most of the stated goals are identified: providing service for the most heavily travelled and congested corridors and inducing development, and subsequently demand, in areas perceived to be underdeveloped or distressed and in areas that have deteriorated. In a survey of key respondents from 16 cities, we find that goals are only weakly correlated with the challenges. While most routes provide service on the most heavily demanded corridors, routing decisions are no less driven by a desire to cut pecuniary and transaction costs. For this reason existing rights of way are often preferred. This is explained by the intertwining of routing and funding decisions. The implications of these findings for evaluation techniques of LRT routes are discussed.     

Railway reforms: do they influence operating efficiency?

This paper considers railway operations in 23 European countries during 1995–2001, where a series of reform initiatives were launched by the European Commission, and analyses whether these reform initiatives improved the efficiency of the railway systems. Efficiency is measured using Multi-directional Efficiency Analysis, which enables investigation of how railway reforms affect the inefficiencies of specific cost drivers. The main findings are that the reform initiatives generally improve technical efficiency but potentially differently for different cost drivers. Specifically, the paper provides empirical evidence that accounting separation is important for improving the efficiency in the use of both material and staff costs, whereas other reforms only influenced one of these factors.

Urban form,commuting patterns and CO2 emissions: What differences between the municipality’s residents and its jobs?

This article investigates the links between urban form and commuting patterns, and the CO₂ emissions associated with them, in the municipalities that comprise the New Town of Marne-la-Vallée (NTMV) located in the Paris Region. The paper distinguishes between the commutes performed by residents and those generated by the jobs located in a municipality. The contribution of the paper is twofold. Firstly, it shows that the CO₂ emissions of commutes differ greatly depending on whether one considers residents or jobs: hence focusing on the travel behaviour of residents can lead to significant errors in the assessment of the CO₂ emissions generated by a municipality, and therefore its environmental sustainability. Secondly, the paper explores the relationship between commuting trips and several indicators of urban form: density, compactness, jobs-to-residents ratio, accessibility to public transport and distance from Paris. We highlight that high jobs-to-residents ratios tend to increase the proportion of jobs held by residents. Density and compactness are associated with more sustainable travel behaviour among residents, but not non-residents. Finally, the shape of the public transport system, which mainly connects the municipalities of the NTMV with Paris, tends to decrease the proportion of jobs held by residents, especially in the municipalities that are close to Paris, and does not allow non-residents, most of whom do not travel from Paris, to use public transport.     

Travel mode attitudes,urban context,and demographics: do they interact differently for bicycle commuting and cycling for other purposes?

This study examined whether interactions between travel mode attitudes, urbanization level, and socio-demographics were different for bicycle commuting and cycling for other purposes. Data were obtained from the 2014 wave of the Netherlands mobility panel (MPN). In total, 2673 respondents (18?+?years) who had recorded at least one trip on the days covered by the survey were included in the sample. Four outcomes were constructed, two of which concerned commuting-related cycling: any commuting-related bicycle usage (yes vs. no) and average cycling duration (in hours per weekday). Likewise, two similar outcome variables concerning cycling for other proposes were constructed. These outcomes were analyzed by means of Tobit regression models (cycling duration) and binary logistic models (any bicycle usage). Attitudinal factors concerning different travel modes, namely bus, car, cycling, and train, were constructed by means of factor analysis. The results showed that a positive attitude toward cycling was positively related to bicycle commuting duration, but this association was less strong among those with a positive attitude toward bus use. Having a positive cycling attitude had a weaker association with both bicycle commuting usage and duration in those who do not always have a car available. Regarding cycling for other purposes, cycling attitude had a stronger positive association with cycling duration among residents of very highly urbanized area, compared to residents of less urbanized areas. The available evidence, though limited, suggests that targeting attitudes can have a measurable impact on bicycling, but not to the same extend among all people.

     

Parenthood and cars: A weakening relationship?

Transportation - A wide body of research supports the notion that the travel behaviour of families with children tends to be car dependent. Yet recent literature suggests a more varied set of...     

Q-analysis and transport: A false start?

The utility for transport research of a number of key ideas from the methodology of Q-analysis is critically evaluated in this paper. It is argued through discussion of specific features of the approach that the literature on this subject has considerably overstated its utility, and that there has been a neglect of alternative methods that could achieve some of the desired ends.     

Walk score® and its potential contribution to the study of active transport and walkability: A critical and systematic review

The Walk Score® index has become increasingly applied in studies of walking and walkability. The index assesses the “walking potential” of a place through a combination of three elements: the shortest distance to a group of preselected destinations, the block length, and the intersection density around the origin. The Index links a gravity-based measure (distance accessibility), with topological accessibility (street connectivity) measured by two complementary indicators that act as penalties in the final score (linearly expanded in the range 0–100). A systematic review of Scopus® and Web of Science® was conducted with 42 journal articles eventually being evaluated. Research was primarily undertaken in North American urban geographies. Analysis of walkability using Walk Score® is inconsistent. Twenty-nine papers do not exclusively relying on Walk Score® as a single measurement of walkability and add further estimates to better capture the multiple dimensions of walkability. In 33 studies the Walk Score® was used as an independent variable, and only once as a mediating-moderating variable. In eight papers (18%) the Walk Score® was a part of a bivariate correlation model. On no occasion was it used as a dependent variable. Results tend to only partly support the validity of Walk Score®. The paper concludes that the Index is best understood as a surrogate measure of the density of the built environment of a specific neighborhood that indicates utilitarian walking potential. Implications for, and potential areas of, future research are discussed.     

Who knows about kids these days? Analyzing the determinants of youth and adult mobility in the U.S. between 1990 and 2009

The 2000s was a decade of transitions for teens and young adults. In comparison with previous generations of youth, those living in the developed world (i) faced the harshest economic climate in decades, (ii) lived with their parents longer and were more likely to return back home as young adults, (iii) used information and communication technologies (ICTs) extensively, and (iv) in the U.S., were subject to increasingly stringent graduated driver’s licensing (GDL) regulations. All were dramatic societal changes to be sure, but how did they affect youth travel behavior? Some argue dramatically and enduringly, but usually with fragmentary evidence. We examine data from the three most recent U.S. national travel surveys and find that, with one exception, after controlling for personal, household, locational, and travel factors, the effects of factors associated with various societal trends on person-kilometers traveled (PKT) are surprisingly muted. The exception is that decreased employment is associated with substantially lower PKT; however, this effect is 32% greater among older (ages 27–61) than younger (ages 20–26) adults, suggesting that economic factors, rather than changes in youth travel preferences, were at the root of declines in personal travel in the U.S. during the 2000s.     

Integrated smartcard solutions: do people want one card for all their services?

Smartcard technologies offer the potential for bringing transport and citizen services onto a single smartcard platform – referred to henceforth as an integrated ‘Transport-Citizen’ (TranCit) card. One question never fully addressed thus far is whether the general public see the integration of services onto a single card as desirable. Based upon research undertaken through the Yorcard project trials, this paper presents the analysis of a series of three focus groups and responses to a public questionnaire which investigated the general desire for multi-application, integrated smartcards. Our findings suggest there is potential for an integrated TranCit card, facilitating easier access to services and travel options across boundaries, even at the international level. A number of operational, technical and data security issues exist which need to be resolved before there would be a greater acceptance of an integrated TranCit card, from both the traveller and the service provider perspective.     

The symbolism of ‘eco cars’ across national cultures: Potential implications for policy formulation and transfer

Transport choices are not merely practical decisions but steeped in cultural and societal perceptions. Understanding these latent drivers of behaviour will allow countries to develop and import policies to more successfully promote sustainable transport. Transport symbolism – what people believe their ownership or use of a mode connotes to others about their societal position – has been shown to be one such, non-trivial, hidden motivator. In the case of hybrid and electric cars (‘eco cars’), studies have demonstrated how their symbolic value varies within a society among different social groups. As yet, however, there has been scant research into comparing how the symbolism of a mode varies across national cultures, horizontally, between individuals with similar socio-demographic characteristics. Through qualitative thematic analysis, this study utilises two of Hofstede’s cross-cultural indices – power differential and individualism versus collectivism – to develop and strengthen theory on how the differing symbolism of eco cars currently varies between four cultural clusters – Anglo, Nordic, Confucian and South Asian. It also deliberates how observed symbolic qualitative differences may influence an individual or group choice to procure eco cars. Finally, it discusses how policy development, transfer and marketing, within the context of eco cars, may need to be modified by national governments, in the Confucian and South Asian cultures, so as to encourage uptake and modal shift.     

E‐Shopping and its Relationship with In‐store Shopping: Empirical Evidence from the Netherlands and the USA

Abstract

Despite considerable examination of the impact of telecommunications on travel, little empirical evidence sheds light on the impact of e‐shopping on travel—a recent and increasingly popular form of telecommunications. This paper analyses determinants of online buying and their relationship with in‐store shopping, using empirical data obtained from Minneapolis, USA, and Utrecht, the Netherlands. Based on chi‐square tests and logistic and ordinary least‐squares regressions, the results indicate that online buying is affected by sociodemographics and spatial characteristics of people, their Internet experience, and their attitudes towards in‐store shopping. US respondents who prefer to see products in person are less likely to buy online. Dutch respondents are more likely to buy online as travel times to shops are shorter. At first sight, this counterintuitive result might be related to an urban, innovative lifestyle that supports e‐shopping. A more detailed analysis of Dutch online buyers reveals that they make more shopping trips than non‐online buyers and have a shorter shopping duration. The results indicate that the relationship between online buying and in‐store shopping is not one of substitution but of complementarity.     

Why do you care what other people think? A qualitative investigation of social influence and telecommuting

The effect of social interactions on decision-making is a topic of current interest in the travel behavior literature. These interactions have been investigated primarily from an intra-household perspective, but increasingly too in other types of social settings. In the case of interactions within a workplace, it has been suggested that the decision to telecommute may have some important social components. Previous research has concentrated on social isolation, and the effect on job satisfaction of qualitatively different (i.e., telecommunications-mediated) relationships with managers and colleagues. A topic that remains unexplored is the way social norms, in effect the influence of other people’s behavior, may influence the decision to adopt telecommuting. In this paper we set to investigate, within a qualitative framework, the role of social contact in the process of acquiring information on, and making decisions about, telecommuting. The results indicate that social contact does play a subtle but non-trivial role in the adoption and continuation process, and offer some insights about the importance of the social dimension, institutional set-up, and how they interact to influence the decision to telecommute.     

A week in the life of baby boomers: how do they see the spatial–temporal organization of their activities and travel?

In this paper, we take an initial look at the spatial and temporal flexibility in the activity patterns of the so-called “baby-boomer” cohort (born 1947–1966) in comparison with younger and older adults. Using a unique longitudinal survey carried in Quebec City from 2002 to 2005, we explore activity patterns and trip rates over a seven-day observation period during the first wave, and take a first look at some aspects of their evolution over two subsequent waves at about one-year intervals. We model the propensity to undertake activities within selected conventional non-work classifications such as “shopping” and “leisure”, and also according to respondents’ own perceptions of the spatial and temporal flexibility of each out-of-home activity that they had executed. While we cannot strictly separate cohort effects from age-related effects, after controlling for gender and household structure, we infer that age and related lifestyle effects dominate in explaining these propensities. However, the boomers were the only age stratum to increase their total out-of-home activity participation over the course of the panel, an intriguing starting point for the future study of this cohort.

Combining web and face-to-face in travel surveys: comparability challenges?

Response rates for household travel surveys are tending to fall, and it seems unlikely that this trend will be reversed in the future. In recent years, travel data collection methods have evolved in order to obtain reliable data that are sufficiently detailed to feed increasingly complex models, and in order to integrate new technologies into survey protocols (Internet, GPS??). Combining different media is an obvious low-cost way of improving data quality as it increases the overall response rate. But the question of the comparability of data over time and between different survey modes remains unresolved. This paper makes a comparative analysis between the travel behaviours of web-based survey respondents and respondents to a face-to-face interview. The data were obtained from the 2006 Lyon conurbation household travel survey. Our analysis shows that the Internet respondents reported fewer trips per day than the face-to-face respondents (3.00 vs. 4.04 daily trips), and that the differences between the two groups varied according to the travel mode and trip purpose. While part of this difference can be explained by socioeconomic disparities (the Internet respondents had a specific profile) we cannot exclude the possibility of under-reporting due to the web medium.     

c-SPSA: Cluster-wise simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation algorithm and its application to dynamic origin–destination matrix estimation

The simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation (SPSA) algorithm has been used in the literature for the solution of the dynamic origin–destination (OD) estimation problem. Its main advantage is that it allows quite general formulations of the problem that can include a wide range of sensor measurements. While SPSA is relatively simple to implement, its performance depends on a set of parameters that need to be properly determined. As a result, especially in cases where the gradient of the objective function changes quickly, SPSA may not be as stable and even diverge. A modification of the SPSA algorithm, referred to as c-SPSA, is proposed which applies the simultaneous perturbation approximation of the gradient within a small number of carefully constructed “homogeneous” clusters one at a time, as opposed to all elements at once. The paper establishes the theoretical properties of the new algorithm with an upper bound for the bias of the gradient estimate and shows that it is lower than the corresponding SPSA bias. It also proposes a systematic approach, based on the k-means algorithm, to identify appropriate clusters. The performance of c-SPSA, with alternative implementation strategies, is evaluated in the context of estimating OD flows in an actual urban network. The results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed c-SPSA algorithm in finding better OD estimates and achieve faster convergence and more robust performance compared to SPSA with fewer overall number of function evaluations.     

Why do some motorbike riders wear a helmet and others don’t? Evidence from Delhi,India

Road traffic accident fatalities lead to important private and social costs in the metropolitan areas of most low and middle income countries. An important share of these fatalities is due to injuries to the head and the neck. Helmets can provide efficient protection, but many drivers do not use them. We focus on helmet use behavior among motorbike users in Delhi. We use a detailed data set collected for the purpose of the study. To guide our empirical analysis, we rely on a model in which drivers decide on self-protection and self-insurance. The empirical findings suggest that risk-averse drivers are more likely to wear a helmet and that this has no systematic effect on speed. Helmet use also increases with education. Drivers who show a higher awareness of road risks seem to be both more likely to wear a helmet and to speed less. Controlling for risk awareness, we observe that drivers tend to compensate between speed and helmet use. The results can provide a basis for awareness-raising policies. They also show that improvements to the road infrastructure risk leading to risk-compensating behavior.